the effect of co-culture of epithelial cells, isolated from ampullary and isthmic regions of human oviduct, on 2-cell mouse embryos

introduction: this study was initiated to examine the effect of the ampullary and the isthmic primary cell cultures of human oviduct during long-term co-culture on two-cell mouse embryos. materials and methods: using a mechanical procedure, epithelial cells from ampullary (a) and isthmic (i) regions of the human oviduct were isolated and cultured in ham's f-10 with 10% fetal calf serum (fsc). the 2-cell embryos were prepared from albino swiss mice, which were co-cultured in hamrquote s f-10 with 10% fsc with either primary a-cell culture or primary i-cell for 5 days. the control group was albino swiss mouse embryos which were maintained in the same culture medium without co-culturing. results: after 120super h nosupersub , the co-cultured embryos groups (a and i) had more blastocyts (4% an 41% respectively) and hatched embryos (22% both) as they were compared with the control which showed 16 and 8 percentages for blastocyts and hatched embryos respectively. the levels of significance were high (p<0.001 both). moreover, in first 48h, the development rete was more in the embryos which were co-cultured with a-cell than that of i-cell (p<0.001 for 24h and p<0.01). conclusion: the results suggest that an unknown factor which may be released the epithelial cell in the co-culture stimulating the development of the mouse embryos. moreover, the in virto development of embryos may be more supported by human a-cell than human i-cell.